violence
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Related to violence: domestic violence, School violence
vi·o·lence
(vī′ə-ləns)n.
1. Behavior or treatment in which physical force is exerted for the purpose of causing damage or injury: the violence of the rioters.
2.
a. Intense force or great power, as in natural phenomena: the violence of a tornado.
b. Extreme or powerful emotion or expression: the violence of their tirades.
3. Distortion of meaning or intent: do violence to a text.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
violence
(ˈvaɪələns)n
1. the exercise or an instance of physical force, usually effecting or intended to effect injuries, destruction, etc
2. powerful, untamed, or devastating force: the violence of the sea.
3. great strength of feeling, as in language, etc; fervour
4. an unjust, unwarranted, or unlawful display of force, esp such as tends to overawe or intimidate
5. do violence to
a. to inflict harm upon; damage or violate: they did violence to the prisoners.
b. to distort or twist the sense or intention of: the reporters did violence to my speech.
[C13: via Old French from Latin violentia impetuosity, from violentus violent]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
vi•o•lence
(ˈvaɪ ə ləns)n.
1. swift and intense force.
2. rough or injurious physical force, action, or treatment.
3. an unjust or unwarranted exertion of force or power.
4. a violent act or proceeding.
5. rough or immoderate vehemence, as of feeling or language.
6. damage, as through distortion of meaning or fact: to do violence to a translation.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Violence
- Battered to and fro as a rat is shaken by a dog —Rudyard Kipling
- Came after him like an antelope —William Diehl
- Came at him like a kamikaze —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Cored him like an apple —John Yount
- Dealt out blows with the precision of a punch press —Natascha Wodin
- Drove his fist straight in like a saber thrust —Joseph Wambaugh
- Grabbed hold of me, as a cat grabs a mouse —George Garrett
- Hit it [a man’s chin] as if I was driving the last spike on the first transcontinental railroad —Raymond Chandler
- Hit like a tank —Ken Stabler and Berry Stainback
- Howling and clawing at each other like wild beasts in heat —Hunter S. Thompson
- I can flatten him out like a crepe in a frying-pan —Henry Van Dyke
- I could slice you down like cold meat before you could whisper Mercy —Davis Grubb
In Grubb’s novel, The Golden Sickle, the man making this threat is wielding a knife.
- I’ll crush his ribs in like a rotten hazelnut —Emily Bronte
- I’m gonna pop your eyes like busted eggs —William Kennedy
- Knocked to the ground like a winged partridge —T. Coraghessan Boyle
- Lunged [into the midst of group of people] like a whirlwind on a summer’s day —Flannery O’Connor
- [Mobster Sam Giancana, who) ordered killings as easily as he ordered linguini —Kitty Kelley
- The propensity for violence exists like a layer of buried molten magma underlying all human topography —Robert Ardrey
- Put me in an arm lock as easily as he might twist a soft pretzel —James Crumley
- Showered her blows … with the force and rapidity of a drummer beating his drum —Guy De Maupassant
- Slapped her like a volleyball —Rochelle Ratner
- Terorism is a natural by-product of modern life. Like air pollution, family breakdown, excessively casual sexual promiscuity and exaltation of greed —Russell Baker, New York Times, 1986
- Threw themselves at him like dogs at a bear —Mikhail Bulgakov
- Violence and wrong are as a dream which rolls from steadfast truth, an unreturning stream —Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Violence (was an inescapable factor of the heart … ) an ineradicable thing … like a bad seed —William March
- Violence in a house is like a worm on vegetables —Hebrew proverb
- Violence is as American as cherry pie —Eldridge Cleaver
- The violence of my impulses [to harm another person] was still within me, like the sharp end of a splinter improperly removed —Scott Spencer
- Violence weighed him down like a pack —Harris Downey
- Violent and ruthless as a puppy —James Mills
- Violent death is like a monster. The closer you get to it, the more damage you sustain —Sue Grafton
- Violent death leaves an aura, like an energy field that repels the observer —Sue Grafton
- Was on him like a falling tree —Jerry Bumpus
- A wound like a burst fruit —Jean Stafford
Similes Dictionary, 1st Edition. © 1988 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  violence - an act of aggression (as one against a person who resists); "he may accomplish by craft in the long run what he cannot do by force and violence in the short one"aggression, hostility - violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked domestic violence - violence or physical abuse directed toward your spouse or domestic partner; usually violence by men against women road rage - violence exhibited by drivers in traffic public violence, riot - a public act of violence by an unruly mob |
| 2. |  violence - the property of being wild or turbulent; "the storm's violence"intensiveness, intensity - high level or degree; the property of being intense savageness, savagery - the property of being untamed and ferocious; "the coastline is littered with testaments to the savageness of the waters"; "a craving for barbaric splendor, for savagery and color and the throb of drums" | |
| 3. |  violence - a turbulent state resulting in injuries and destruction etc.Sturm und Drang, upheaval, turbulence - a state of violent disturbance and disorder (as in politics or social conditions generally); "the industrial revolution was a period of great turbulence" rage - violent state of the elements; "the sea hurled itself in thundering rage against the rocks" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
violence
noun
1. brutality, bloodshed, savagery, fighting, terrorism, frenzy, thuggery, destructiveness, bestiality, strong-arm tactics (informal), rough handling, bloodthirstiness, murderousness Twenty people were killed in the violence.
2. force, power, strength, might, ferocity, brute force, fierceness, forcefulness, powerfulness The violence of the blow forced the hammer through his skull.
3. intensity, passion, fury, force, cruelty, severity, fervour, sharpness, harshness, vehemence `There's no need,' she snapped with sudden violence.
4. power, turbulence, wildness, raging, tumult, roughness, boisterousness, storminess The house was destroyed in the violence of the storm.
Quotations
"All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" Bible: St. Matthew
"Violence is one of the most fun things to watch" [Quentin Tarantino at the screening of Pulp Fiction in Cannes]
"Keep violence in the mind"
"Where it belongs" [Brian Aldiss Barefoot in the Head]
"All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword" Bible: St. Matthew
"Violence is one of the most fun things to watch" [Quentin Tarantino at the screening of Pulp Fiction in Cannes]
"Keep violence in the mind"
"Where it belongs" [Brian Aldiss Barefoot in the Head]
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
violence
noun1. Power used to overcome resistance:
2. Exceptionally great concentration, power, or force, especially in activity:
depth (often used in plural), ferociousness, ferocity, fierceness, fury, intensity, pitch, severity, vehemence, vehemency.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
násilíprudkost
voldvoldsomhed
väkivaltaväkivaltaisuudetvääryys
nasiljenepravdasilovitostžestina
ofbeldi, ofsi
暴力曲解歪曲猛威
폭력
nasilje
våld
ความรุนแรง
tính bạo lực
violence
[ˈvaɪələns] n (= physical aggression) → violence f
Twenty people were killed in the violence → Vingt personnes ont été tuées dans cette éruption de violence.
acts of violence → actes de violence
Twenty people were killed in the violence → Vingt personnes ont été tuées dans cette éruption de violence.
acts of violence → actes de violence
(= force) [feelings, tone, action] → violence f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
violence
n
(= forcefulness, strength) → Heftigkeit f; (of protest) → Schärfe f, → Heftigkeit f; (of speech also) → Leidenschaftlichkeit f; the violence of the contrast → der krasse Gegensatz; the violence of his temper → sein jähzorniges Temperament, seine Jähzornigkeit
(= brutality) → Gewalt f; (of people) → Gewalttätigkeit f; (of actions) → Brutalität f; the violence of his nature → seine gewalttätige Art; crime of violence → Gewaltverbrechen nt; act of violence → Gewalttat f; robbery with violence → Raubüberfall m; an increase in violence → eine Zunahme der Gewalttätigkeit; to use violence against somebody → Gewalt gegen jdn anwenden; was there any violence? → kam es zu Gewalttätigkeiten?; outbreak of violence → Ausbruch m → von Gewalttätigkeiten
(fig) to do violence to something → etw entstellen; it does violence to the human spirit → das vergewaltigt den gesunden Menschenverstand
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
violence
[ˈvaɪələns] n → violenza (Pol) → incidenti mpl violentioutbreaks of violence → episodi di violenza
acts of violence → atti di violenza
robbery with violence → rapina a mano armata
to do violence to sth (fig) → fare violenza a qc
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
violent
(ˈvaiələnt) adjective1. having, using, or showing, great force. There was a violent storm at sea; a violent earthquake; He has a violent temper.
2. caused by force. a violent death.
ˈviolently adverbˈviolence noun
great roughness and force, often causing severe physical injury or damage. I was amazed at the violence of his temper; She was terrified by the violence of the storm.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
violence
→ عُنْف násilí vold Gewalt βία violencia väkivalta violence nasilje violenza 暴力 폭력 geweld vold przemoc violência насилие våld ความรุนแรง şiddet tính bạo lực 暴力Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
violence
n. violencia;
domestic ___ → ___ familiar.
English-Spanish Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
violence
n violencia; domestic — violencia doméstica; gun — violencia con armas de fuegoEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.